More than 40 police volunteers sat stunned last week at a luncheon to highlight their contributions when each one of them was awarded a night’s stay at the Old Hen Bed and Breakfast in North Bend.

As the Hen’s owner Deanna Morauski revealed that not one, but all of the volunteers in attendance would win a free night’s stay at the Hen’s Old English Suite (value of $250), the banquet room at the Meydenbauer Convention Center went silent for several seconds. The volunteers looked at each other, thinking maybe it was joke, then an eruption of applause when the news sunk in.

“They had that same bewildered look that I had when I first heard her offer it on the phone,” said Bellevue Police Volunteer Coordinator Marji Trachtman. “It didn’t quite register at first.”

The night’s stay for each of Bellevue’s 46 police volunteers was meant as a sign of appreciation from both the department, and Morauski, who is close friends with the police chief of Snoqualmie Valley, to show that the volunteers make the stressful duty of policing the city an easier one.

“I just thought to see everyone walking out of there smiling and getting something for their hard work when they expected nothing in return was great,” Morauski said.

Since the program began in 1994, police volunteers have worked more than 150,000 hours which equates to over $3.1 million dollars in labor. Their service enables officers to focus on primary law enforcement duties and allows the Department to maintain services that it otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to provide. In addition, the program gives citizens a meaningful way to get directly involved in their community and learn first-hand what a law enforcement agency deals with day-to-day.

The luncheon to benefit the volunteers is in its 14th year. Trachtman said she routinely calls local businesses for donations, as no city funds can be spent on door prizes for volunteers. When she solicits businesses, they’re often happy to help out.

When Trachtman happened upon the Old Hen through Internet searches, she wanted to get a donation of a night’s stay at a local Bed and Breakfast as a prize. Morauski initially declined the offer because she didn’t want to see any of the volunteers walk out without a prize, so she offered up a stay to each volunteer.

“If one person wins, then the rest of them don’t,” Trachtman said about Morauski’s reasoning. “It was such a totally spontaneous gesture on her part that I was speechless when she made the offer, I thought I had misheard.”

The department’s volunteers had a pretty similar reaction.

Nat Levy can be reached at 425-453-4290.